I am being “welcomed” back to work tomorrow after more than 2 solid years of 100% work from home. My company let us know that our attendance is required 5 days per week without exception, and used the typical company spiel that we're an in-office company and productivity is better etc. They have hundreds of thousands of employees and so far the logistics of instructing us back have been laughable. I've received welcome emails to incorrect buildings, some colleagues were placed in buildings 3 hours from their home or not assigned at all. My new ID card was mailed to my office rather than my home, but I will need the ID card to access the mail room in the new office. Not to mention the countless “delay emails” as they've been trying to send us back basically every month since the pandemic began.
I have no intention of returning to the office full time. I work in an office separate from my teammates so not even sure how they intend to track. However, I will go in tomorrow to find a seat and set up my desk. I think it will be nice to have the option if I ever do feel like going in, and at least knowing the space will give me a bit of a leg to stand on if I'm ever confronted about attendance.
My question is why are companies not putting more effort into enticing us to return to office instead of requiring it?
I'm actually looking forward to having a place to go tomorrow just to get out of my apartment on a weekday for a change, but the way they've handled return to office makes me so resistant. I feel like if they spent the last month sending emails about free coffee, nice office spaces, good local lunch spots, and just basic effort for making the office enjoyable, I'd be excited to spend time there. Are any of your companies doing that and is it more effective? Genuinely curious why my company focused on how working in the office is better for the company (who cares) when they easily could have focused on why it could be better for each of us as individuals.